Datillo Island
by thecrazyfanficcer
Summary: TWW Link discovers an island sometime after his first adventure. [pathetic old stuff]
1. The King and his Court

**This is an old TWW story that takes place before Phantom Hourglass. Be warned, it's not very good.**

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The waves lapped at the sides of the _King of Red Lions_. Even after his adventure in Hyrule, even after he had retrieved the three goddess' pearls, Link, saviour to the lands, never missed a chance to go coasting the waves on the red dragon-headed boat.

It was funny, though, Link reflected, staring at the clear blue waters of the ocean being rapidly skimmed over by the _King's _red underside, so much had happened to him, and yet... He felt the same as he always had. Even after he had finished two adventures, involving goddess' pearls and a pirate expedition, he was still annoyingly curious and had a knack for getting himself into adventures in which – oddly enough – he always gained something in the end. Link had used to wonder what true courage was, and now he thought he knew.

"Are you all right, Link?" King called. He was zipping through the blue with the greatest of ease, and even without a sail the red boat had no trouble at all. "You seem quiet."

"What?" Link lifted his hand from his cheek, where it had been perched. "Oh no, I was just thinking."

"You're always thinking," King joked.

"Then again, maybe being saviour of Hyrule isn't what it's cracked up to be," Link replied, laughing.

King grinned. "Yeah, and I'm the one who has to carry you around all the time."

Link stifled a wisecrack and patted King's long neck. He relented a few seconds later. "Look who's talking," he retorted with a smile.

The waves pushed up against King's underside as he zoomed on the waters so fast that Link's yellow hair fluttered in the strong wind. Oh, and not to mention the fact that no matter how many times he tried to grab it back, his green elven cap kept floating off.

"Look, Link, look," King exclaimed suddenly. "Look up."

Link glanced up. Sure enough, in the distance, he could discern a green shape, like a small island, about medium size and covered with trees, standing right on the sun's zenith line.

Carefully taking King's neck in his hands, Link lifted one booted foot on one of the boat's carved wooden adornments. He hoisted his other foot up, climbing all the way up the long neck until he was balanced precariously on top of King's head. It was a neat trick his friend, the pirate girl Tetra, had taught him. Carefully balancing on his toes, he stood there like that until King steadied.

"Be careful, King." Link cautioned the boat, reaching out one hand to pat his ornately carved wooden head. "I wonder why we haven't seen it before?" he added suddenly, tossing his head to the sky so that his blond hair was whipped even harder by the wind. "I mean, we've been all over Hyrule."

King rolled his eyes upward, watching as Link pulled a scroll from his back and began reading it. He knew it was the map of the whole kingdom; now worn out from the countless times Link's roving fingers had searched its plain ink drawings, it still came in handy.

The island was starting to come into sight. It was a beautiful, light day on the waves, with an azure blue sky and puffy white clouds, but as soon as King floated through the island's thick foliage, all that was blocked off. It was a breathtaking sight that greeted their eyes. The sky was obscured by a layer of teal-coloured tree leaves, birds in every colour of the rainbow were fluttering among the branches, chirping a cheerful afternoon song. Link stared above at the forest canopy in amazement. King's prow hit gently against the grassy shore, rousing him, and he clambered down stealthily from his head.

"King," Link said, patting the boat's neck again, "see you when I get back, okay?"

King gave Link a lopsided grin, then flew on the waves out from the island. He would know when Link was done on the island. He always did.


	2. Treasure Island

Smiling after the red shape of his talking boat, Link carefully unsheathed his sword and advanced through the trees, careful not to cut himself. Holding the sword ahead of him, Link walked quietly along and waited for something to happen, for an enemy to jump out at him from the trees. When none came, he whipped the sword back into his sheath so fast that the Hylian symbols were a bright, radiant blur.

Link pressed on through the forest island. For the moment it seemed empty, though judging by the amount of woodland life on the island, there had to be some people around here somewhere.

So, he walked on for a bit, but nothing interesting greeted his eyes; just the same background of trees and birds as before. But now, suddenly, a rock wall reared up above Link. Confused, the he looked up...until something caught his eye. It was a hole, smack-dab in the middle of the rock wall, covered by hanging vines and clearly covering the entrance to something.

Link pushed the vines aside and peered beyond. Sure enough, there was a black hole, which the vines had been hiding. He couldn't tell what was on the other side, so, steadying himself, Link hopped through the hole and slid his feet out on the other side.

He jumped easily onto his feet on the other side of the rock wall. Just in case, he steadied his hand on the golden hilt of his sword, but when nothing happened, he sighed with relief and dropped his hand.

He was about to head forward into the forest haven when a noise made him whirl around, unsheathing his sword in the blink of an eye. But it was just a person, so he quickly sheathed it again, blushing slightly in embarrassment.


	3. Datillans of Datillo

A shadowy, stealthy figure appeared from the uppermost branches, flipping effortlessly down. Now it was hanging from a thick branch with one hand, swinging its legs; then, suddenly,it landed right in front of Link, flitting silently as a shadow.

She must have been one of the island natives, Link figured. Her skin was dark, highlighted by a few sand-coloured freckles around her nose. Her long dark gray hair swept behind her shoulders, reaching all the way past her shoulder blades. She reminded Link of his pirate-girl friend Tetra – the sort of person who loved adventure and was pretty independent in her own special way, but he had yet to meet this one.

"You're pretty fast, you know." The girl dropped down from the branch, and for the first time Link could see her completely. Her eyes were blue, a dancing bright aqua blue. They were shining in the light of golden lanterns which Link suddenly noticed had been suspended in the tree branches, shining with unearthly light.

"Who are you?" Link asked, relaxing slightly.

"Maureen. I'm from Datillo Island. You?"

"I'm Link ... This is Datillo Island, right?"

"Yep," the girl said with a wink. "Follow me and I'll show you around."

Link grinned and followed Maureen through the forest. Looking around, he noticed that the lanterns hanging in the trees were actually brass oil lamps, blazing with orange flames. Maureen led him all the way to a marble castle not far from the entrance. It wasn't the biggest of castles – nowhere near the sunken Hyrule Castle – but it was ornately carved and decorated out of the purest white marble with towers, ramparts crenellations.

Link followed the Datillan girl all the way through the castle entrance, which was a big, dark hole. There was a door to, of course, but from what he could see, Link thought, one hand on his sword as he gazed upward, it was held right above the entrance, with a hanging rope to pull it open. The tree canopy was less thick here and the feebly-coloured sun shone down brightly, nevertheless causing a glare bright enough to fling Link's hand up to shield his eyes.

Maureen led Link into the castle. It started with a large, earthen room with a hard-packed floor. Clay jugs had been pushed up against a corner of the wall, and beyond them was an oaken door with a red and gold dragon-embroidered tapestry in front of it. Three kids were leaning casually against the clay jars, talking together. They turned around as the two of them approached.

The kids were also Datillans, Link could tell, two boys and a girl. One of the boys was short, with a bow and quiver slung across his back. His hair was dark gray and curly and he also had a few sand-coloured freckles spaced around his cheeks. The other two appeared to be brother and sister. The girl was about medium height, with long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail and a ton of freckles. Her eyes were like glowing coals, ruby-red with the dancing colours of flame around the irises. Her brother had shaggy hair, long and thick, that fell over his bright emerald eyes.

"This is Jessa and her brother, Manny. And this is Mosley," Maureen announced as they approached, pointing to each of the kids in turn. "Everyone, this is Link. He's from..." She looked at Link curiously. "Where are you from, anyway?"

Link grinned. "Outset Island," he replied.

"Right, so, you wait here with the others, Link. I have to go get some people."

"Who does she have to get?" Link asked Mosley. The other boy smiled mysteriously, running a hand through his curly hair.

"Chances are she probably has to go get Nalinda and Marty," Mosley answered, jumping up onto the tall clay jar standing behind him and starting to swing his legs. "She always does."

Marty and Jessa hopped up on two jars next to Mosley. Link hesitated a moment, then jumped on one himself. "How big is Datillo Island?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Datillo? It's about, I dunno, twenty miles wide, maybe." Jessa gathered her legs up from under her and looked forward. "Everyone in this part of the island lives in the castle. But there're other parts too. There's Graymoor, Coconut Beach, Palmleaves..."

Manny nodded on his part. "But why did you come here, Link?"

Well," Link started thoughtfully, glancing up at the ceiling, "I was on my boat when I saw this island I'd never seen before."

Mosley nodded, a grin flickering around his lips. "Yeah, it's even past the place where the ruins of Hyrule are sunk under the ocean," he informed Link. "That's probably why you've never seen it before."

Jessa lay down and rolled over luxuriously, tossing her ponytail behind her head before carefully undoing the green band that held it together. Kicking her legs, she gathered her hair up tightly behind her head before tying it up again. "It's a nice life, here on Datillo," she added. "Everyone's happy."

"Not to mention curious," continued Mosley. "Like, everyone's always wanted to know what it's like out there." He gestured vaguely.

"Probably some Hylian settlers," confirmed Manny with a nod.

"But they had some things changed – the took out the door and moved it up higher, and where it was they dug that hole instead." Mosley let his hands trail over his quiver. "But it must have happened a long time ago – now, the place is overrun with stuff our ancestors made."

"And nobody knows what's written on that wall," Jessa said with a jerk of her head. "It is really ancient, after all; we're native to Datillo, but our ancestors were hiding in the forest before they discovered the clearing. When they finally crept out, they noticed someone had built a castle on the island."

Catching Jessa's lead, Link turned around. Sure enough, part of the western wall was covered with ancient carved Hylian writing. He jumped down from the clay jug and pivoted on one booted heel, curiously trotting over to the wall. Mosley, Manny and Jessa followed him, their shoes making a soft tapping on the hard-packed earthen floor.

Link, driven by curiosity, jogged all the way to the wall and ran his hands over the ornate carvings, leaning in so close so that a wisp of his blond hair pressed against the mysterious wall. Link ran one hand along the carvings, then pointed to something that looked like three interconnected triangles, glimmering golden in the light of the room.

"This is the Triforce," Link informed the Datillans, pointing. He ran his left hand along some of the other carvings. "I can read a bit of Hylian writing. It says..." He trailed off, eyes squinched shut and tongue sticking out as he jerked his head thoughtfully upward. Finally, he opened his eyes and ran them over the ancient writing. "'One day a hero will come to save the land...' That's as far as I can read," Link explained apologetically, dropping his hands and whirling around at the creaking of an opening door.

Sure enough, Maureen reentered the main hall, accompanied by another boy and girl. "Link, these are Nalinda and Marty," she announced, bowing with a flourish. "He's prince of the castle."

The boy nodded shyly. He was about medium height, with short dark gray hair - which Link was now getting used to - and yellowish-golden eyes. Perched atop his head was a cut-gold crown, tinted silver, with an azure jewel set in a spike at the top. The girl, Nalinda, was taller than Link, with curly hair that fell over her shoulders and a warm-looking smile. Her eyes were a deep, vibrant blue-violet, like amethysts. She was clad in a tunic with a skirt up to her knees. It turned out Nalinda was the one who always took care of housework at the castle.

So far, Link had met only kids: Maureen, Mosley, Manny, Jessa, Nalinda and Marty. "We all live in peace here together," Marty explained to Link, reaching one hand up to adjust his silver crown, which had come loose and was slipping over his eyes.

"You should visit us sometime," Nalinda suggested with a soft smile.

Link, for lack of anything to say, looked upward at the ceiling. "Can I see the rest of the island?" he teased playfully, "or are we going to stay here talking until the cows come home?"

Maureen crossed her arms jokingly. "Do you really think we'd do that? Nah, we're going to take you on a tour of the island and leave you tangled up in the vines of Ferngrowth, buddy boy."

Jessa shoved her playfully. "No, even better, Maur, we're going to show him Coconut Beach and throw him right in the middle of the Shrine of the Water Fairy."

Marty had an evil grin. "Or, even worse, we could send him to the oasis in Sandstorm Desert, and when you're drinking water after a long trek through the wasteland, we're going to drown you in it!" he said with a perfect evil cackle.

Link laughed. "Whatever you choose, I can always run away and artfully kick sand into your faces and abandon you while you're sneezing!" he teased playfully, shaking his head so that his green elven cap danced in the air.

Maureen gave a long, fake sigh. "Well, if you're gonna do that to us, Link, then we might as well just go on and show you the rest of the island." She gave a sudden, ravenous grin (lots of grinning here today). "You'd better follow... Or else."

As the others laughed and followed her up a stairway to the upper floor of the castle, Mosley lagged behind, turning to Link. "How did you know how to read that ancient Hylian writing?" he demanded suddenly, whirling around so fast so that his curly hair whipped in the updraft. He was literally towering over the Saviour of Hyrule.

Link was taken aback. He could feel his cheeks grow hot as he stuttered his answer. "Well... I... um..."

Mosley dropped down to his natural height, which, unsurprisingly, was around the same size as Link. "No, no, we've found out. You're the hero who's supposed to save us and all that."

Link nodded, grateful that he hadn't had to explain it all himself. "How'd you figure it out?"

Mosley smiled, pivoting on his heel and following the others up the red-carpeted staircase. "There were clues ... the most prominent one being that legends said he would be clad all in green."

"Ah," Link said sarcastically, following up the stairs after Mosley.


	4. Castle, Wonderful Castle

Maureen swept her hand across the hallway. "It's pretty basic, here," she said, with a gesture to the earthen walls. About four rooms were sectioned off to the right side of the corridor, their wide doorways covered with leaf-ridden vines. Link scurried over to the nearest one, whirled and did the thumbs-up before turning back around again and shifting the vines aside.

It was your basic fantasy-style room inside, complete with roaring fire, oaken furniture and massive blanketed four-poster bed. A brass nameplate behind the bed read 'Mosley' in a smooth, flowing script. Adjacent to the bed was a mahogany-coloured oak table; on top of it, Mosley had been carving a partially finished willow bow, now stocked inside a fur-lined animal-skin quiver.

Link turned back and followed as the group continued the tour of the rest of the castle. It turned out there was only a small kitchen in the basement, sporting a cauldron held up above the embers of a fire, where everyone helped Nalinda cook the meals every day. There were beds for the others and, as he discovered, their parents; Marty's was especially lavish. The hallways were long and planked with wood, as were the walls and ceilings.

The island was parted off into night different regions: Coconut Beach, Sandstorm Desert, Ferngrowth, Castle Court, Graymoor, Palmleaves, Ocean Blue and Clearwater River. "It's pretty versatile, Datillo Island," Maureen explained with a smile as Link and the other stood on a grassy bank, watching Clearwater as it wound its way through the woodland part of the island. "So many things grow on it."

Maureen looked startled as Link wordlessly peeled his elven cap off suddenly and jumped into the river in a splash of foamy white water. "What are you doing, Link?" she called down to him.

Link waved and swam off into the distance. Jessa grinned suddenly at Maureen, doffed a fake hat, and jumped in after Link.

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The setting sun cast its golden glow on the faces of seven children playing in Clearwater River, gilding them in a glorious eventide light. The sun's warm rays bounced off their faces and gave them all a radiant summer-going-on-fall glow, reflecting off the clear water of the river as it wound its way through the forested part of Datillo Island. The sun slowly set, but still they swam on in its fading light.

On and on the children played, not knowing of the adventures and terrors the morn would bring.


	5. Green Hero and Archerboy

"No, not like that. Like this!"

Link craned his head upward and watched in amazement the arrow which Mosley had just set loose from his brass-edged mahogany bow. The arrow, as straight and true in its course as an Olympic medalist, zinged away from the boys into the trees, its red-feathered shaft speeding away smoothly into the distance. The arrow flew on for a few metres before it darted nicely, right in the center of a blood-red apple hanging down from a grape vine right above their heads. Its shaft quivered for a few moments, pointed tip dug lightly under the apple's peel. Link felt his mouth drop open, shocked at Mosley's aim.

Mosley grinned and tucked his bow under his arm. "I know you think that was awesome and all, Link, but you're not so bad yourself. Hit that apple, right next to the one I just shot, and we can compare."

Link, suddenly aware of his gaping mouth, closed it, nodded and slid his own wooden bow out from where it was slung across his back. He carefully pulled an arrow out from his shoulder-slung quiver and notched it to his bow, where he closed one eye and carefully aimed before letting it fly.

The arrow, with its own plain red feathers, cut nicely through the air with a whirring sound and hit the top of the apple Mosley had indicated. The other boy nodded, walking over until he was directly in the shadow of the vines and pulled on of the thicker ones. Both apples came falling down and Mosley picked them both up before trotting back to Link.

"See, it's like I said. You're not that bad. It's pretty hard to hit an apple when it's hanging from a vine above your head. But you could get better." Mosley showed Link both apples before handing Link his arrow, pulling out his own and throwing both apples off into the trees.

"Well, I'd have to be pretty good, considering I _have_ saved the whole of Hyrule, you know," Link teased jokingly, brushing off the tip of his arrow before putting it back into his shoulder quiver.

Mosley laughed and pushed his friend away. Soon a pushing match started, with the two boys shoving each other and laughing until something behind them rustled.

"What?" Link stopped pushing Mosley and glanced off into the trees, where the sound had come from. The boys looked at each other curiously until the rustling figures revealed themselves to be Maureen and Nalinda.

"Oh. It's just you guys," Mosley said, sheathing his bow and replacing the arrow in his own quiver. "We were having a shoving match," he grinned sheepishly.

"What do you mean, _just_ us?" Maureen joked as she and Nalinda began leading the boys through the trees. "We bring important news. Tell 'em what you saw, servant girl."

Nalinda grinned amiably at the nickname before starting her story. "Well, I was making some food for lunchtime," she began, running her hands through her long hair, "and I heard a mysterious voice. It sounded like a guy was talking with King Seehal. I left the food and peeked out the door."

"What did this guy look like, Nalinda?" Link interrupted, rubbing his blue eyes as if to discover a revelation about something. "Maybe we've seen him before."

"Well, you might have, Link, but I'm pretty sure we haven't. He was tall, really tall, taller than anyone I've ever med. He had silver armour and a cape, a midnight blue cape that reached all the way to the floor. Let's see... His hair was black, black and spiky, and the top part of his head was covered by a helmet. I couldn't see his eyes from where I was, but I could feel them glowing, as if he could see me." Nalinda finished her recital, cheeks glowing and eyes bright.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go investigate," Maureen said decidedly, pivoting on her heel and making her way back to the castle.

"What the?" Link turned to stare at Mosley. "You don't think she's actually going to do it, do you?"

Mosley gave a dismissive shrug. "When Maureen wants to do something, Maureen wants to do something. No one can stop her."

Link stared at Maureen's dark receding figure before shaking off his confusion and following her into the tree trunks.


	6. Gaspie! Something's Wrong!

Link peeked through the slats of the wooden barrel that his green-clad form was crouched inside, watching Marty's father, King Seehal, as he waited for someone. Clearly agitated, Seehal was pacing in circles around the main room. He looked like Marty, down to the golden crown with the royal peridot of Datillo embellished in its highest spike. His eyes were two were a soft shade of honeyed caramel, giving him an outer calmness which didn't fit the current situation.

A door set in the wall behind Seehal opened slowly, and the mysterious messenger who could have been none other than the one Nalinda had seen came out. Silver armour was clasped all over his torso and down his legs; set in the breastplate was a single bright sapphire, shining for all it was worth. His cape, a dark midnight blue, swept the floor as he came in, flowing and dark. As for his head, Nalinda had been right; his spiky black hair was an unruly tangle, capped by a leather helmet. But his eyes were the weirdest – a kind of bluish colour, bright and pale at the same time, flickering, wavering beams of light that pierced through the slight darkness of the room.

"It's time," the mysterious messenger said, rubbing the sapphire on the breastplate of his armour. "He's been kidnapped. Fate works in its own ways, Seehal."

"I know, Fahel, but why? Why me? It's not fair at all..." Seehal broke off, running a hand through his praline hair and succeeding only in rumpling it up. "My own son and his friends..."

Both men went back into the room where Fahel had been before. They both walked slowly, without talking, so that no more information about the mysterious kidnapping victim could be extracted.

Maureen looked at her friends, her eyes glowing. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"


	7. Evil Lurks in Every Corner

"Maur..." Marty was pacing nervously, unknowingly repeating what his father had been doing just half an hour before. "I know I told your dad said he was in the cave last night, but do we really have to do this?"

"Yes," Maureen said with an evil smile, glancing into the blackness of the cave at the edge of Ferngrowth that loomed up, tall and dark, ahead of them. "We have to save that guy, whoever he is."

They were just about to enter the cave when a shout made Link whirl around. A ship was approaching on the western horizon, its massive hull treading through the blue waters that surrounded Datillo Island. A few seconds later, an anchor was thrown out past the starboard side of the boat, flying smoothly until it sailed over the ship's motley crew and landed with a thunk on the coral reef bordering the sandy shores. A figure appeared over the bow of the ship, yellow ponytail fluttering in the wind. She peered over the edge of the bow and waved. "Oi, Link!"

"Tetra!" link called back, jumping back a pace. The pirate girl came into full sight before flipping over the prow of the boat. She agilely landed on both feet (_Is it a pirate girl thing?_ Link wondered admiringly), tossing her ponytail expertly behind her shoulders.

Link introduced the newcomer to the young Datillans. "Guys, this is Tetra," he said with a gesture to his friend. "She's a good friend of mind."

"It's a lot easier than you'd think," Tetra said matter-of-factly, hand extended, palm upward. "What are you doing?"

They seemed to take it reasonably well, considering that they'd just met her as of three minutes ago. "Well, I was at the castle and I saw King Seehal talking to a mysterious guy named Fahel," Nalinda replied, inclining her head. "He said someone had been kidnapped and it sounded like we had to go save him."

Marty nodded, continuing the narrative. "Well, he was talking about it a few nights ago, too, and he said something about a cave." He reached a hand up to adjust his crown. As he righted it, the amethyst caught the light and shone brightly in their eyes. "There's only one cave on the whole island. We put two and two together and now we're here."

"Can I come with you?" Tetra asked, her eyes shining. The others smiled amongst themselves and nodded.

As the small procession made its way up the pebbly slope in front of the cave, Tetra turned to Link. She was about the same age as him, and, ironically as it seemed, she was princess of Hyrule (and yes, that does mean her name was Zelda, technically speaking), though she hadn't known it until Link had finished his adventure for the goddess' pearls. Even now, in the aftermath, she was still a rogue of the waters and all things nautical, being who she was.

As for her appearance, it was odd that Tetra was princess of Hyrule. She wasn't light-skinned like most Hylians. Instead, it was dark in colour, a brown shade, actually, and in contrast her hair was blond. A red bandanna was wrapped around her neck, swaying slightly in the wind. She had a traditional pirate outfit on, complete with lilac shirt, blue vest, red waistband and white shorts. And of course, the traditional pointed ears of all Hylians.

"Betcha you can't do this," Tetra said in he outgoing way, leaning down suddenly. She wasn't kneeling, but her knees were bent as she outstretched to the wind. She paused for a few seconds, looking cool and composed, eyes closed as if meditating. In reality, she was bracing herself; in one smooth, sudden movement she jumped up gracefully onto the crest of the slope, seeming to fly in the wind. Then, with an artful twist, she landed in one sudden movement, grinning as she did so.

Link looked at her, head cocked, eyebrow raised, arms crossed. "You, my friend, are underestimating the hero of Hyrule." In a flash, he whipped his sword out and soared through the air majestically. Upon landing, he plunked the gleaming blade into the ground and landed on top of it, hands on the hilt, legs up in the air. Until he fell back down with a flop, that is.

Tetra gave a laugh. "'Hero of Hyrule?' Well, no offense, Link, but you'd figure a guy like you could save the land with better gymnastics, at least." Link poked his head out of the grass, yellow hair haggard, streamed with dirt and sprinkled with leaves. That set the laughing spell on Tetra. It was so contagious Link joined in after a mere two point five seconds of her wonderful laughter.

By the time they were done, the Datllians had disappeared.

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"Anybody have a light?" Jessa stood in the middle of the closely-knit knot of kids, her hands raised. "I know I don't, but what about you, Manny?"

Manny glanced quickly around. "I think Marty does, but he went off somewhere around there," he said in answer to his sister's question.

"What do you mean, somewhere?" Mosley demanded. "Marty's way too shy to just disappear."

"If he has, we'll go look for him then." Everyone turned to stare at Maureen and Tetra, who had spoken in perfect unison and were now heading neck-to-neck further, plunging themselves into the darkness of the cave.

"What are we waiting for?" cried Jessa, her eyes glinting. "Follow those girls!" she proclaimed, running after their receding silhouettes.

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Marty lifted out a single star-coloured teardrop-shaped gem, glowing in the darkness. It shined brightly, tossing its flickering yellow light onto the cave walls and making the crystals formed into the rocky surface thousands of years ago glitter. "I was just exploring," he explained shyly to Maureen, blushing slightly. The others had found him just a little way away from where they had been talking. "I wanted to explore... And here I am," he added with a sheepish shrug, moving his hand so that the crystal-covered walls danced in the shadows shifting over them before his hands dropped back down again.

"No problem, Marty," Maureen said expertly, running a hand through her hair. "But we've got a mission, so we should stick together." Her voice held no trace of remorse, though Marty flushed and made his way to the back of the party.

The small group slowly walked through the seemingly colossal cave, their footsteps echoing in the darkness. It was a long, steep trail upward into the cave's inner depths, leading to where no one knew. Marty's flickering lightstone provided brightness when they needed it, and judging by the way things were going, they couldn't go on without it.

Link heard Tetra's sandaled step next to him before he actually saw her. Her face was lit up soon enough by the glow from Marty's lightstone. She had that mischievous expression on her face, that I'm-up-to-something smile that Link knew well by now. "What is it, Tetra?" he asked with a fake melodramatic sigh.

Tetra grinned mischievously, one hand on the azure pirate stone around her neck. Link found himself grinning along with her.

"I hear someone, Link. And guess what's going to happen."


	8. Cavie Wonder

A moan emanated from the darkness beyond.

The kids glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Then it came again, the moaning sound. As if fate had worked in its own way, like Fahel had said, they suddenly got up and ran, almost flowing, as one, to where the poor figure was, blotted against the wall, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides.

Nalinda checked the man's pulse. "He's fading," she said. She grabbed his forearms, as if to help the man stay up in his last minutes. "There's nothing we can do." A tear slid down her cheek, shining in the darkness.

"Well... I can do something, but I need Link to help me," Tetra said suddenly, fumbling with her leather-cord necklace as she tried to get her pirate stone,hidden from under her blue vest. "Will you?'

Link, getting the thread of things, unwrapped his own turquoise amulet from around his neck. He remembered, so long ago it had seemed, that he'd been catapulted into the Forbidden Fortress, captured without his sword. Tetra had invented this way of them both together, but he didn't understand how they could help the dying man.

Tetra nodded and pressed her aqua-coloured pirate stone against the man's neck. Link pulled out his own and followed suit. They waited for a few seconds...

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...The man's body was envelopped in a heavenly celestial light. The azure light glowed bright around his skin, highlighting his features so that they watched in amazement as he melded smoothly from a dying older man to a tall, almost godly figure, eyes cast in shadow but glowing in the darkness.

Fahel.

"You have done well," the messenger said, and disappeared into the mist.

The kids glanced at each other, feeling their bodies lift as the prophecy was fulfilled and Fahel brought them back where they belonged.

But there was no prophecy. Fahel had been fluking. He did that often, the tall mysterious messenger, to get 'young ones,' as he called them, to show their true strength and courage, say, in the darkness of a cavern.

Even as they were transported away from the cave and into the light, a golden swath covered them. Link grinned, knowing that his dreams had flipped from fantasy into reality; he'd made some great new friends, and under no circumstances was he going to forget them or Datillo Island that easily.


	9. Wakey Wakey!

When Link came to, he was in the infirmary of the Datillan castle, lying down, unconscious, surrounded by a mass of white beds where he knew the others were. He heaved himself up, perching his elbows on his knees and shaking his head so that his elven cap danced and his blond hair moved like whispers on the still air.

"What happened?" said Link, rubbing his eyes.

Tetra was the only other one awake. Her hand went to the cerulean stone hanging around her neck. "I think Fahel tested us," she answered, her blue eyes glowing. "That man wasn't really in danger; he was testing us." She paused, thinking about it. Then she looked up again so that her ponytail flicked slightly. "There's someone here for you, Link."

Link whirled around, wondering who in the world was waiting for him and caused Tetra to stop her theory. When the grizzled redwood face of the familiar King came into view, jutting through the wood-lined window, he smiled and grasped the boat's long neck, carefully climbing up as he had done so long ago. By now the others were waking up, and they murmured among themselves as the boy they had known for three days perched on the head of his talking boat.

"I'll visit you," Link called as King brought him skating across the blue waters and back to the world he loved. "I'll even bring my sister Aryll."

Lughing, they waved back, to the green-clad friend who was now leaving, but would come back, never forgetting them, his good friends from Datillo.

And it was in that way that the Hero of Time's descendant left Datillo Island that fateful day, and indeed he kept his word until the end of his days.


End file.
